Published every Three Months. Sponsored
by an International Group of Theosophists.
Objectives: To uphold and promote the Original Principles of the modern
Theosophical Movement, and to disseminate the teachings of the Esoteric
Philosophy as set
forth by H.P. Blavatsky and her Teachers.
Editor: Boris de Zirkoff.
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None of the organized Theosophical Societies, as such, are responsible
for any ideas expressed in this magazine, unless contained in an official
document. The Editor is responsible for unsigned articles only.

*

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER ...

"... we are now using in our incarnations matter that has been
used by ourselves and other egos over and over again, and are affected
by the various tendencies impressed in it. And, similarly, we are leaving
behind us for future races that which will help or embarrass them in
their future lives,

"This is a highly important matter, whether reincarnation be a
true doctrine or not. For if each new nation is only a mass of new egos
or souls, it must be much affected by the matter-environment left behind
by nations and races that have disappeared forever.

"But for us who believe in reincarnation it has additional force,
showing us one strong reason why universal brotherhood should be believed
in and practiced.

"The other branch of the responsibility is just as serious. The
doctrine that removes death from the universe and declares that all is
composed of innumerable lives, constantly changing places with each other,
contains in it of necessity the theory that man himself is full of these
lives and that all are traveling up the long road of evolution.

"The secret doctrine holds that we are full of kingdoms of entities
who depend upon us, so to say, for salvation.

"How enormous, then, is this responsibility, that we not only are
to be judged for what we do with ourselves as a whole, but also for what
we do for those unseen beings who are dependent upon us for light." -
William Quan Judge, in "Universal Application of Doctrine," The
Path, Vol. IV, October, 1889. Cf. Echoes of the Orient (1975),
Vol. 1, pp. 111-12. [3]

*

"THE DOCTRINE WE PROMULGATE
..."Boris de Zirkoff

The Theosophical Society has no creeds or dogmas and its work is not
based on any set of beliefs. This simple fact has often been misinterpreted
by some as meaning that Theosophists have no particular doctrine to present,
and that Theosophy is wholly undefinable, except, perhaps, as an approach
to Truth.

This attitude, which occasionally crops up, is totally wrong. In the
words of the Maha-Chohan transmitted to A. P. Sinnett by Master K.H.
in 1881, it is authoritatively stated: "The doctrine we promulgate
being the only true one, must, supported by such evidence as we are preparing
to give become ultimately triumphant as every other truth."

Even a superficial acquaintance with the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom
shows that this Wisdom or Teaching outlines very specific doctrines concerning
the nature of man and the universe, in opposition to, and in contradistinction
with, many other ideas, concepts and beliefs which are shown to be false,
as a result of not being based on solid universal foundations.

Some students, trying to bend backwards in their abhorrence of blind
beliefs and any creedal or dogmatic structures, have attempted to deny
the obvious fact that Theosophy has doctrines that such doctrines
are definable, that they are the formulation of certain principles of
thought and of certain facts of nature of current languages of our time,
and that they can and should serve as very definite touchstones of the
validity of other ideas which have often passed as Theosophy.

As we enter now into the Second Century of our work as an organized
Movement, and feel, stronger than ever before, our moral and spiritual
responsibility to all seekers who come our way, it is incumbent upon
all of us to avoid presenting to them ideas and conceptions which are
in direct opposition to the basic doctrines of our Movement, which have,
in one form or another, come down to us from immemorial antiquity, having
withstood the test of time and danger.

We must not be afraid to ask ourselves the question: Do all the works
published in such profusion by the several Theosophical Publishing Houses
contain ideas and teachings thoroughly in conformity and harmony with
the original teachings presented by the Founders of the Movement at its
very inception or soon after? An impartial study of this matter might
reveal some unsuspected facts and leave some students in dismay. It is
nevertheless a healthy attitude to take and a very much needed project
to be undertaken.

We cannot afford to present to the seekers ideas which clash with the doctrines which
the modern Theosophical Movement was entrusted to present by those spiritual
Instructors who were its real Founders behind the outward scene of events.
If we do so, we fail in our mission and will be made responsible for
deceiving others, no matter how noble may have been our motive and how
commendable our desire to help.

A doctrine, no matter how clearly defined, cannot become a creed,
simply because, instead of being based on beliefs, it is founded on Knowledge. [4]

*

THEOSOPHY AND MYTHOLOGYJoan Sutcliffe

In the ancient Roman city of Pompeii there is a villa, the walls of
which are painted with strange and beautiful pictures, depicting moving
yet rather fearful scenes from the Mysteries. The neophyte descends into
the subterranean chamber of initiation, where she comes into communication
with centaurs, half animal, half human creatures, whom she feeds from
her hands. This theme merges into that of the kneeling candidate to whom
are revealed certain sacred objects, for sight of which the ordeals of
initiation must be undergone, symbolized in the paintings by the woman,
un-robed, being beaten with rods. The horror, however, passes, and the
aspirant rises, delectably happy, waving triumphantly the scarf of initiation,
and enters the Elysian Fields. Witnessing these events is the mortal
Ariadne united with her immortal husband, Dionysus, the god whose mythical
death and rebirth are the heart of the mystery cult.

Of course these are representative only of the exoteric rituals and
ceremonies which appealed to the populace of the Graeco-Roman civilization,
and which are called in occult literature the Lesser Mysteries. There
lies, however, beneath the colourful trappings of cultism a deeper body
of esoteric wisdom, available only to him, who has been tested and tried
in the dark caves of earth life, and who has emerged through the baptism
of blood, pure and awakened to the god within. (The baptism of blood
is the central purification rite in the Mithraic Mysteries, but is of
course symbolical of an inner cleansing of mind.) These are the Greater
Mysteries running like the thread through the inner heart of all myths
and legends of all cultures and civilisations of man. Wrapped up in the
fancy clothing of adventurous stories of gods and heroes is golden, pulsating
truth, which has existed unbroken since the first dawn of Manvantara,
like the treasures of childhood locked away in the attic in decorative
chests. The key to the unlocking is Theosophy.

Mythology is the charm and the ornaments that attract the lover to the
beloved. Theosophy is the heart and fine qualities that bind him and
keep him faithful.

The idea of a descent into a darkened cave, or a fall from a state of
perfection, pervades numerous myths of numerous nations. Present in all
are: an imperfection, a confusion, a compulsive searching, tortuous journeys
of suffering, then a discovery of knowledge, a struggle and finally an
overcoming and a glorious return. Hephaestos, son of Zeus and Hera, was
hurled out of Olympus on the isle of Lemnos, as a result of which he
became crippled, but there he set up his great furnace and, as blacksmith
to the gods, he grew in strength and wisdom through dedicated work, and
finally regained his place among the gods. Herakles, incurring the hatred
of the goddess Hera, was sent out to perform twelve exacting labours,
on the successful completion of which he was rewarded with the gift of
immortality. The sons of Odin had to leave the hallowed halls of [5] Valhalla
to go to Jotunnheim to do battle with the giants. In the Egyptian myth
there is the search of Isis to recover the scattered body of Osiris:
and in English literature there is little more poignantly expressive
of man's lot than the lines by Milton in Paradise Lost which describe
Adam and Eve, hand in hand, sadly wending their way on the outside of
paradise. Buddha describes incarnation as a fall from perfection, for
the spirit encased in matter must necessarily experience limitation,
and cannot shine through in the true fullness of its bloom. This limitation
is suffering, and he left us with a wisdom-teaching and a code of ethics
by means of which one might overcome and regain spiritual consciousness.

The fundamental principles of Theosophy tell the identical story. The
primal state of perfection symbolizes the Absolute with all being absorbed
into its bosom, sleeping through the seven eternities of Pralaya. The
Secret Doctrine tells us that this state can never be understood
by finite mind, for to understand would be to designate its qualifications
which would render it no longer Absolute. The nearest awareness can only
be reached through an understanding of the imperfections. Therefore,
there is a continual going out and coming back in, a falling into the
imperfection of manifestation and a regaining of the perfection of the
Absolute. It is not literally an actual going away, for the Absolute
is the ultimate source of all, and it is omnipresent, eternal, boundless
and immutable, and everything is at heart in unity within it: the going
out is more a veiling, a dimming of the reality, "a limitation",
as Buddha stated. This is Manvantara, the period of differentiation and
activity, corresponding to the days of the struggling and learning of
the heroes. There is a state of imbalance, for the dual aspect of the
Absolute has become active, and there is a continual pull between the
opposing poles of nature. It is interesting to note that in the myth,
the throwing out of Hephaestos from heaven was due to a quarrel between
his father and mother (spirit and matter) in which he took his mother's
side, thus creating an imbalance between the dual forces, the two aspects
of the Absolute.

Hints of this doctrine can be traced in the ancient legends. The poet,
Homer, has often been called in the metaphorical language of the classical
critics the creator of Greek mythology. Theosophists, however, recognize
a more ancient source. H. P. B. speaks of him as an esoteric writer,
and suggests that the Iliad is taken from the Hindu epic, the
Ramayana. It might be interesting, therefore, to look at Homer's Odyssey.
It concerns the terrible hardships and sufferings of the returning hero,
Odysseus, who leaves his home to fight in the Trojan war. Here again
is the going out and gaining of experience, and the illusionary separation
from the Absolute, which in truth is ever present in the form of Penelope,
the faithful wife of Odysseus, who waits in longing night and day for
the reunion with her husband. It is significant that Penelope is portrayed
as weaving a tapestry, at which she works diligently by day, but at night
withdrawing most of the threads, and on completion of which she has promised
to remarry. Weaving is rather suggestive of the working of the law of
Karma, the manipulation by the [6] spiritual of the material,
and there occurs again the idea of day and activity, and night and inactivity.
The tapestry is completed the night of Odysseus' return: Karma has run
its course and the pilgrim becomes reabsorbed into the Absolute.

This cyclic process of alternation between manvantara and pralaya, activity
and inactivity, is witnessed everywhere in nature: day and night, summer
and winter, birth and death, waking and sleeping. There are cycles within
cycles, and the cosmic period of activity called Manvantara contains
lesser durations of evolutionary development. There are solar Manvantaras
and Pralayas, and planetary ones. The same law is present too in the
individual man, in his progression through reincarnation, and is carried
even to the continual dying and rebirth of the cells and life-atoms that
compose his vehicles, material and spiritual.

The earth with its life (elemental, mineral, vegetable, animal, human
and superhuman) is similarly passing through a manvantaric period of
evolution. As on the universal scale, cosmic day is following by cosmic
night to re-emerge into brighter cosmic day, so the earth must experience
the same cyclic processes within its own evolutionary activity, and these
can be witnessed in the sequential pattern of the rising and failing
of its great civilizations. Theosophy teaches that there are seven great
Root-Races, and recurring within each Root-Race are minor evolutionary
cycles in the seven sub-races, and again the seven branches of each sub-race.
The reincarnating ego of man must take birth in every one, so perhaps
some small insight can be grasped into the tremendousness of the evolving
scheme as taught in Theosophy. The third Root-Race is known as Lemuria,
and the fourth as Atlantis, the continent which sank beneath the sea.
We are now in the fifth Root-Race, the Aryan.

I should like to mention one or two of the esoteric interpretations
that are given in The Secret Doctrine concerning passages in the Odyssey where
the mythological figures and events are seen as the Root Races and their
emerging processes of cyclic activity.

"The 'one-eyed' Cyclopes ... three in number ...
were the last three sub-races of the Lemurians, the 'one-eye' referring
to the Wisdom-eye; for the two front eyes were fully developed as physical
organs only in the beginning of the Fourth Race. The allegory of Ulysses
... putting out with a firebrand the eye of Polyphemus, is based upon
the psycho-physiological atrophy of the 'third' eye. Ulysses belongs
to the cycle of heroes of the Fourth Race ... His adventure with the
[Cyclopes] ... is an allegorical record of the gradual passage from the
Cyclopean civilization of stone and colossal buildings to the more sensual
and physical culture of the Atlanteans, which finally caused the last
of the Third Race to lose their all-penetrating spiritual eye." [Vol.
II, pp. 769-70.]

Quoting again from The Secret Doctrine: "The
myth of Atlas is an allegory easily understood. Atlas is the old continents
of Lemuria and Atlantis ... Atlas is the son of an ocean nymph, and his
daughter is Calypso - 'the watery deep.' Atlantis has been submerged
beneath the waters of the ocean, and its progeny is now sleeping its
eternal sleep on the ocean floors. The Odyssey makes of [7] him
the guardian and the 'sustainer' of the huge pillars that separate the
heavens from the earth. He is their 'supporter ... said to have been
compelled to leave the surface of the earth, and join his brother Iapetos
in the depths of Tartarus ... standing on the solid floor of the inferior
hemisphere of the universe and thus carrying at the same time the disc of
the earth and the celestial vault' ... Atlas is Atlantis which
supports the new continents and their horizons on its 'shoulders'." [Vol.
II, pp. 762-63.]

Another passage states that Ulysses "... was thrown
into Ogygia, the island of Calypso, where for some seven years he lived
with the nymph in illicit connection. Now Calypso was a daughter of Atlas,
and all the traditional ancient versions, when speaking of the Isle of
Ogygia, say that it was very distant from Greece, and right in the middle
of the ocean: thus identifying it with Atlantis." [Vol. II, p. 769
footnote.]

The seven years are easily recognizable as the seven sub-races of the
Atlantean period. The idea of an illegitimate type of relationship with
the water nymph, Calypso, suggests that the monadic pilgrim is not of
Atlantis, but is something higher merely seeking experiences through
Atlantis.

The myths relating to Apollo typify a higher kind of god, endowed with
the virtue of purity and skill in music and prophecy, who is said to
have descended from the Hyperborean continent of the north. The Secret
Doctrine carries these comments: "The Aryan race was born and
developed in the far north, though after the sinking of the continent
of Atlantis its tribes emigrated further south into Asia ... Astronomically,
Latona [mother of Apollo] is the polar region and the night, giving birth
to the Sun, Apollo, Phoebus, etc. ... The quarrel of Latona with Niobe
(the Atlantean Race) - the mother of seven sons and seven daughters personifying
the seven sub-races of the Fourth Race and their seven branches ... allegorizes
the history of the two continents. The wrath of the 'sons of god,' or
of 'Will and Yoga,' at seeing the steady degradation of the Atlanteans
was great and the destruction of the 'children of Niobe' by the children
of Latona - Apollo and Diana, the deities of light, wisdom and purity
... is thus very clear. The fable about the never-ceasing tears of Niobe,
whose grief causes Zeus to change her into a fountain - Atlantis covered
with water - is no less graphic as a symbol." [Vol. II, pp. 768-72.]

The esoteric teaching concerning the cosmic processes of ebb and flow,
and the seven Root-Races, has its analogy too in man's individual development.
Manvantara is the period of differentiation, when the one becomes the
many: many monads seeking to understand the reality of perfection in
the one through the imperfection in the illusionary experience of separation.
One of the basic principles of Theosophy states that the soul of man,
Buddhi, is a spark of the universal soul, whose root is in the Absolute,
and similarly it must pass through a pilgrimage of learning and growing,
through repeated incarnations in all forms of matter, from the elemental,
through the vegetable, mineral and animal, and the Root-Races of man
up to the most spiritual.

As an integral part of the Absolute, [8] man's nature is likewise
dual in aspect; it is Zeus and Hera - spirit and matter. Consequently,
the whole man is composed of a higher and a lower self. The lower self
is a quaternary including a physical body, an astral body, life-energy,
a desire nature; this is the outer or personal self, which is limited
and mortal. The higher or immortal self is a triad, made up of Manas
(or mind) and Buddhi, which is the intuitional vehicle of Atma, the divine
spirit. Atma and Buddhi are the monadic pilgrim, the spark from the universal
soul, which must make the Round, and this is the inner and impersonal
self. The link is mind, either drawn down to the lower self or up to
the higher self, a continual pull between the two, personified in the
myth of Castor and Pollux, the mortal and immortal twins who must share
immortality. It might also be traced in the story of Persephone retracing
her steps continually between the underworld of Hades and the upper air.
- (To be concluded.)

*

PRIORITIESVonda Urban

It is truly said that behind will stands desire, for it is impossible
to do anything at all without first desiring to do it, and then implementing
its accomplishment. The success of the end is always commensurate with
both the intensity of the desire and the amount of will power used for
its accomplishment, while an imbalance between these two factors is non-productive,
as is so pitifully observed with the celebration of each new year in
the profusion of bold resolutions made, and which are almost as readily
discarded because "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Whether we are aware of it or not, the desire-will pattern operating
in our own nature has constructed our lives upon a totem pole of priorities.
The personal selection of our preferences arranged in the respective
order of their importance discloses by what we choose all that we have
become. We pursue our interests in either an organized, systematic drive
for achievement, or may, perhaps, waver floundering about willy-nilly
on unchartered seas of chaos and confusion; but whatever may be the overruling
purpose that each one of us lives for - or if it is an emotional compulsion
that enslaves us - that objective or emotion is the predominating center
of our consciousness, the primary consideration upon which our thoughts,
desires and emotions are focused. This is the "top man" on
our totem pole who so visibly reveals our character, showing how we conduct
ourselves in our struggle to attain that which we desire "more than
anything else in the world." Here is where our strengths and weaknesses
disclose what ethical standards shape the principles by which we live
while capturing the prize for which we live.

All that we essentially are is our character. It is the sum total of
our soul, the record of all our past now streaming forth through our
consciousness in the [9] thoughts we think, the emotions we feel
and the deeds we do, or fail to do. What we choose is in keeping with
our spiritual unfoldment - or lack of it - for the motivating dynamics
within our human ego can manifest only at the level through which it
functions, and which is, in fact, the ethical-moral base of our character.
Thus if the overall primary objective of our life is rooted in worldly
attractions with our desire consciousness centered in our personality
- which is the lower self, and which craves material objectives such
as power, fame, wealth, superiority and pleasure - or if it is more largely
focused upon duty and living for others, this outer manifestation of
the general selfish or selfless trend in our nature stems from the amount
of spiritual light that is able to shine through our consciousness -
so very clearly marked by our priorities.

Within the obvious frame of our visible character and
subtly hidden in varying depths beneath it, lie our motives. Here is
where our spiritual light emblazons every noble deed; here is where we
also lose our way groping through plutonian mists of fancy, the murky
light obscuring secret purposes in seeming goodness that hides an evil
core; here is where our moral code of right and wrong is measured, not
in deeds alone, but even more, the acts committed or omitted are held
accountable with the degree of our responsibility; here is where unerring
scales of justice weigh our human soul, and with meticulous exactness
balance it with debts or credits that will come to us in future days
...

"Good and evil are relative, and are intensified or lessened according
to the conditions by which man is surrounded. One who belongs to that
which we call the 'useless portion of mankind,' that is, the lay majority,
is in many cases irresponsible. Crimes committed in Avidya (ignorance)
involve physical but not moral responsibilities or Karma. Take, for example,
the case of idiots, children, savages, and other people who know no better.
But the case of each of you, pledged to the HIGHER SELF, is quite another
matter. You cannot invoke this Divine Witness with impunity, and
once that you have put yourselves under its tutelage, you have asked
the Radiant Light to shine and search through all the dark corners of
your being; consciously you have invoked the Divine Justice of Karma
to take note of your motives, to scrutinize your actions, and to enter
up all in your account. The step is as irrevocable as that of the infant
taking birth. Never again can you force yourselves back into the Matrix
of Avidya and irresponsibility ... Though you flee to the uttermost parts
of the earth, and hide yourselves from the sight of man, or seek oblivion
in the tumult of the social whirl, that LIGHT will find you out and lighten
your every thought, word and deed ... And know further, that if Karma
relentlessly records in the Esotericist's account, bad deeds that in
the ignorant would be overlooked, yet, equally [10] true is it
that each of his good deeds is, by reason of his association with the
Higher Self, a hundredfold intensified as a potency for good."

As students of the Ancient Wisdom seeking the path upward, our first
priority, then, is to put our priorities in order. This is a matter of
putting spiritual values first; a matter of living every day in accordance
with the highest ethical standards and in the true spirit of brotherhood;
it is a matter of undertaking the superhuman task of detaching ourselves
from the world of selfishness, while at the same time dealing with it
and working through it. Nothing is more difficult in all the world than
mastery over our animal Self; and spiritual unfoldment is an unending
effort throughout many lifetimes; but, gradually, as we climb upward,
the radiance from our Higher Self ensouls our human consciousness, slowly
transmuting the personal into the universal, selfishness into compassion.
The degree of growth in any one lifetime depends upon the intensity of
spiritual aspiration abiding in our human desire nature, the amount of
will power driving that desire, and the intelligence to judge accurately
and choose wisely.

The only sure way that we can grow in compassion is to become vitally
interested in, and genuinely concerned about everyone. To recognize,
and to be able to feel in a very real sense that we are a part of every
other human being, and they a part of ourselves, is to understand the
reality of brotherhood. It bridges the gap of separateness by cutting
away the very cause that breeds prejudice, competition, strife and hatred
between men; and the feeling of oneness curbs the tendency of worshiping
those we look up to, or condemning those we look down upon, for all are
but pilgrims marching together through eternity. The more we lose ourselves
in selfless service for others, the more do we participate in the Grand
Scheme of Universal Life spiraling ever upward, adding our strength to
the forces of light in the world. Each must find his own way and grow
in his own time; and as the spiritual light in each of us increasingly
shines more brightly, expressing ever more largely that Spark of Divinity
within the core of the core of us, we behold the metamorphosis and see,
emerging from our human animal - a godly man!

*

MEDITATION THROUGH ACTIONDara Eklund

Two contrasts are confronted in our age with respect to meditation.
One is that contemplative thought does not come naturally. The other
is that everyone, whether favorably disposed towards it or not, is in
awe of it in some form or another. Transcendental Meditation, accused
by metaphysicians as not really being "Transcendent," is lauded
by some psychologists for the sense of well-being it synthesizes within
its practitioners. Other psychologists are severely deploring the whole
meditative trend as escapism from realities needing desperate attention
today. To some it [11] appears to be a "fad," a thing
to be "in" to. (Have you ever tried to be "out" of
meditation?) It is adopted in even its ludicrous imitative forms as a "Life
Style," which can only sadden the heart of anyone getting a gleam
into the old wisdom schools where the mysteries were never degraded by
pompous display.

With the exception of Zen, which is practiced under the close guidance
of a Roshi or teacher, most of the forms of meditation adopted so hurriedly
in the West are conveyed to the public as an easy formula for success.
A mantra is frequently sold to the aspirant and some would-be practitioners
become trapped in expensive seminars and long grueling sessions not at
all feasible for Occidentals. The Westerner who has no groundwork in
philosophy will find he must have his own special Guru, or line of teachers
(one particular man claiming a lineage from ancient Aryavarta to the
American Indian Cochise). He is willing to throw himself in self-abnegation
to any promising leader without any critical forethought. He is assured
by some promoters of the popular techniques that they are harmless, or "fool-proof" in
their benefit, with no warning about the vibratory rates of mantra and
their effect on the unprepared psycho-mental make-up. Being of a nature
burdened with psychic tendencies and emotional imbalance, the devotee
is bombarding himself with stimulants of only a little higher vibratory
rate. He is asked to "sink back" into an "Unconscious," filed
with impure motives and unfinished attachments to worldly life. This
broad "Ocean" of the Unconscious, he is told, can bring a calm
mind and solution to his problems. Christmas Humphreys, in his Concentration
and Meditation, warns:

"Let him before he seeks the Changeless be certain that he wearies
of the world of change, and longs with yearning past denial to find and
win Reality." (p. 5.)

Unless the student's yearning is for true intuitive levels of impersonal
Service, he will bring only a superficial calm and temporary solution
to his problems. The real problems are those which tie us with our fellow
Man and can be worked out in the laboratory of the race Mind,
from the inner reaches of the world Heart. Ever Contemplative,
that World Heart is constantly active in promoting harmony, causing individual
hearts to set aside the discordant life.

A workable Conscious Aspiration to Truth alone protects one firmly established
on the Path from being brain-washed away from it by every Yogi or Sannyasi
met on the street-corner.

It is possible to glean some fine ideas, however, amidst all that is
being thrown at the West along these avenues. A Tibetan Buddhist, Chogyam
Trungpa, for instance, in his book Meditation in Action, has shown
us an alternative course embracing the Buddhist idea of attentiveness.
It is alertness to arising events, a performance of each task simply
because it needs doing. Not a "Doing your own Thing" cult,
but World Service culture. Impersonal selflessness is reiterated
in Trungpa's Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, which traces
a selfhood which hangs on to our inner life in subtle ways if we become
unwary and unmindful. Mindfulness is the ability to see in the
seeming Void the seeming Full. It is not at all the calm passivity [12] fostered
by some Meditators, who would have us "See no Evil, Hear no Evil,
Speak no Evil," to the extreme of permitting all sorts of social
vices without curbing them in the slightest.

Meditation in Action (pp. 35 ff.) reflects upon the Narrow Path
among the Paramitas, or "transcendent actions," calling it
a "Path of discipline" not in the sense of laying down a moral
code, but discernment of the middle way of simplicity:

"For instance, if there was only one little track through a mountain
pass and the rest of the terrain was completely overgrown with trees
and bushes ... then we would have no difficulty at all in deciding which
way to go. If there is only one track, either you go or you turn back.
The whole thing is simplified into one event, or one continuity one way
of true simplicity ahead of us. Fundamentally, discipline comes down
to the Samatha practice of developing awareness, through which one merely
sees what is. Every moment is now, and one acts through the experience
of the present moment."

This is a meaning of the "Narrow Path," as understood in Hinayana
Buddhism. Trungpa goes on to expand the meaning in the Mahayana school
with the practice of the Paramitas on the "Open Path" of the
Bodhisattvas. Building upon the foundation of character and dignity of
the "Narrow Path" the Path of Compassion opens up.

Now surely the reader will feel that none of these latter methods can
be seen as slipshod, complex or reckless. They hold promise, diligence,
beauty and dignity for one who may attempt them. In this approach one
does not merely say to his teacher, "I would like to receive Teaching," but
rather that he wishes to unlock a treasures the benefit of which the
Teacher will help him release or perfect. This unlocking is devised through
all the actions of life in such a tilling of the soil on the "Bodhi
field," that little time remains for cloud-gazing.

A rephrasing of this toil might be termed "Meditation through action." Common
to both Hinduism and Buddhism, it is yet suited to Western Consciousness.
It teaches the path of renunciation: not renouncing the act itself, but
all selfish intent. Removing a yearning for results, one sees a Way therein
to "free" his acts. In freeing his actions he releases his
own burden of attachment. This may be the meaning of the Bhagavad-Gita
passage:

"Action is said to be the means by which the wise man who is desirous
of mounting to meditation may reach thereto; so cessation from action
is said to be the means for him who hath reached to meditation." (Chap.
vi.)

Obviously in the world, which we see spinning through its suicidal paces,
there is not the leniency to pause long in "cessation" from
action. We who see the suffering of the world must take a strong hand
in reshaping its destiny. There is an urgency for united effort and Universal
Consciousness to uplift the conditions of men. By this are not meant
large mass meditations and so-called "Group Consciousness." Is
a man any less "Group" conscious because he finds a deep love
for his brothers welling up within him as be works in his garden or drives
people home on a bus? (It is a lonely sight to watch people carted home
in a lighted bus at twilight, seldom talking with each other at the end
of a harassing [13] day, and scarcely a serene face to be seen
at the window.)

That we dream is evidence that we are not yet truly meditators.
If we do not examine the minutest impressions of our days they
can act subconsciously upon us. That is why we must take Action to
reach that point where "cessation from action" is confirmed
and final peace achieved, not for self alone, but in the Universal Reaches
for all Mankind! That point would be a reservoir of mental quiet enabling
man to dwell harmoniously amidst any surrounding. Becoming naturally
contemplative, busy with deeds, not words, such a being causes all men
to improve. He does not necessarily have to set aside specific times
to meditate, although he may do so. He may wish to review the
days acts when night arrives. Beyond this his whole life becomes Meditative
- a constant reunion with that One Life infallibly recognized in each
person, place and event. For the greatest Meditative thought ever uttered
was and is: THAT THOU ART!

*

EDUCATION FOR LIFEMontague A. Machell

"Before the soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto
the Silent Speaker be united just as the form to which the clay is modeled,
is first united with the potter's mind." - The Voice of the Silence,
pp. 2-3.

It might help each of us towards a growing maturity, could we constantly
envisage this mortal personality seated at the knee of the Immortal Instructor
- the Spiritual Self - learning the ultimate meaning of the term "LIFE." Such
instruction might embody the basic value of Proportion, i.e., the
right relation between personal existence here on earth (repeated many
times), to the uninterrupted unfoldment of the Immortal Self.
Such education, however impractical it may appear as applied to earthly
existence, would verily and truly, unite "the clay with the potter's
mind" (man's personality with the Spirit's destiny).

If there be any rationality in the Law of Life, mortal existence and
immortal spiritual unfoldment cannot be opposed to one another;
such opposition must have its root in the point of view of the
earthly inhabitant. And, insofar as earthly existence is healthily related
to spiritual unfoldment ("Life" in its deepest meaning), to
that extent spiritual motivations must find a place in mortal
existence, which would obviously mean that learning the technique of
existence must in no way militate against spiritual unfoldment.

For this to become possible, the mortal personality must of necessity
discover and apply the potencies of spiritual maturation, such
maturation depending upon the willingness of the earthly personality
to "learn." The primary subject of such "learning" Theosophy
defines as Self -Knowledge, which is neither more nor less than an intelligent
understanding of one's capacity to "live," in place of merely "existing," an
understanding one acquires as a pupil of the Spiritual Self. [14]

Such pupilage experiences the advantages and inconveniences (to the
personality) of being eternally continuous instead of consisting
of separate, unrelated "periods" in life after life on earth.
Such continuity lends to the term "education" a sublimely enlarged
significance, making "life" an heroic, rather than a commonplace
experience.

Eternal values

In this regard, the Theosophist must remind himself that the "education" he
is acquiring here and now dates back many incarnations, and is calculated
to shape and glorify uncounted incarnations yet to be. He can safely
discard all the perplexities and frustrations of Time, being an immortal
Spiritual entity exploring timeless possibilities; wherefore "today" always
holds implications for transcending merely today. In the light of this
fact he is called upon to achieve a fearless confrontation with All Time;
the experiences related to an earthly personality with only one life
to live, are done with; his Karma or "destiny" now has to do
with eternal values. And, since only one "eternal" agent
has power to deal effectively with these values, he inclines toward meditation
on the Deathless Self, in place of much protesting of earthly virtues.
He finds these words from The Voice of the Silenceimmediately applicable: "Restrain
by thy Divine thy lower Self. Restrain by the Eternal the Divine."

Through daily applications and pursuit, this "education" reveals
itself as everlasting. To pursue it fruitfully one's thinking must be
in the dimensions of the Divine - genuinely "esoteric." In
this program uninterrupted study of the words and life of H. P. Blavatsky
and her Masters must burn into his consciousness the undreamed Potencies
and mysteries of this "life" which is his daily text. In such
study, Education becomes identical with cosmic "becoming" -
a growing awareness that "I am one with all that is."

World Without End

A temptation to be resisted for a rewarding application of these remarks
is the assumption that the title refers to Education for this life alone.
Most of us, to be sure, will be doing well if we can live this one life
with a consistently "educated" approach. But Theosophy demands
more of the dedicated student than this. Since it demands of him Education
beyond Time, ultimate fulfilment will always depend upon a vastly enlarged
concept of both Man and Life. Add to this the fact that such education
must be self-inaugurated and self-pursued, without dependence upon any
source of redemption other than man's own Spiritual Self, and the vastness
of the undertaking becomes clear. He who seriously undertakes it must
make GROWTH the law he lives by - GROWTH in vision and capacities beyond
anything of which be dreamed himself capable. In this pursuit he will
contemplate rewardingly the words of our opening quotation: "Before
the Soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto the Silent Speaker
be united," which will recall a picture of the confused Personality
at the knee of the Immortal Instructor (the "Silent Speaker")
seeking to awaken a slumbering Awareness.

The Truth an adequate education seeks is largely a forgotten Truth,
native to the Greater Self, but obscured [15] by the transient
personality. A valuable injunction on the pathway to enlightenment is "Man,
know thyself!" where "Man" stands for the personality
which "must unto the Silent Speaker be united." In pursuit
of Truth in these dimensions desires of the personality must be forgotten
entirely, that one may attain that knowledge that can be shared with
all humanity. There is no room in the pattern for a selfish personal "salvation," since
one seeks to find himself "one with all that lives" - the ultimate
realization of a Universal Brotherhood united in a Spiritual Quest. Such
is the goal of an Education for Eternal Life.

The Impediment of Choice

About us on every hand we behold the beauty and symmetry of Nature,
the predominant note of which would seem to be Joy. All these natural
creations obey the law of their being instinctively. Being unself -conscious,
they lack the impediment of Choice. Man, a denizen of a higher plane,
must choose and plan his conscious unfoldment. With a dual nature in
keeping with a dual universe, he finds himself again and again wracked
and tortured in choosing the course he will pursue. Mesmerized by the
mortal personality, he again and again makes choices governed by selfish
expediency in place of the less alluring one of ultimate Growth. A long
series of unwise choices has weighed him down with an inescapable Karmic
load that seems to have robbed him of the enduring joy of life. Yet,
ever in his hours of suffering, the choice is still his, between mere
dull endurance and intelligent Growth. Where misery numbs the will, Growth
must be hard of attainment. A joyous understanding alone can impart rewarding
meaning to life.

We have been here before

The key that Theosophy holds out to that understanding is made
known in those words afore mentioned, "Man, know thyself!" upon
which the entire Theosophic philosophy is founded. This injunction may
appear deceptively simple. "Of course I know myself! If I don't,
who does?" we are apt to remark. But at least, our present self-knowledge
should include a clear, close-up appreciation of our many weaknesses,
to which few of us have as yet honestly admitted. What goes by the name
of "personal pride" has, in many of us, postponed an honest
acknowledgment of weaknesses we know ourselves prone to. Until they are
faced and admitted, our self-knowledge remains superficial. Such superficiality
can stand in the way of our realization that the tests we face in this
life have been undergone in preceding incarnations. We have been here
before; the problems and shortcomings we deal with intelligently
today have, doubtlessly, been adequately dealt with in the past, whereas
much that plagues us now may be attributed to a superficial self-knowledge
brought over from another life. This same "personal pride" that
prevented admission of failings in a former life, may serve as an incentive
to improve on our past record. "Not in entire forgetfulness" are
we born into this life, hence it behooves us to utilize such discernment
as we have acquired elsewhere. There is always a "next time" wherein
unfinished business can, and will confront us. Education for Life
must include a clear view of life's limitless dimensions as revealed
by the law of Reincarnation. [16]

The Indispensable Vision

"The form to which the clay is modeled, is first united with the
potter's mind."
As Omar might put it:
"So when the Angel of the darker Drink
At last shall find you by the river-brink,
And offering his Cup, invite your Soul
Forth to your lips to quaff - you shall not shrink."

First or last, the Cup offered man by the Angel of the darker Drink,
is of his own fashioning. So far as the form, Soul-designed, is "united
with the potter's mind," our Education for Life is moulded to an
Infinite Beauty by the Silent Speaker. For this union to be attained,
the disciple must ponder the ancient Truths with vision Heaven-centered.
Thus shall the entombed splendor of the Infinite kindle his many-hued
days of earthly existence with the glory of Life Everlasting, thereby
winning lost provinces of Time for the Empire of the Eternal.

*

RECENTLY PUBLISHED
ECHOES OF THE ORIENT
The Writings of William Quan Judge
Compiled by Dara Eklund.

This initial volume of the Writings of Mr. Judge is a first step to
fulfill the desire of many students to have his literary heritage available
in bound volumes.
The contents of this volume are largely drawn from his magazine The Path, which
flourished from 1886 to 1896. It was conceived, edited and largely written
by Mr. Judge himself who invigorated it mainly through his own many-sided contributions.
The wide arc of Mr. Judge's philosophy covers subjects such as: the inner constitution
of man; what happens to him when he dies; how does be reincarnate; occult powers
and their attainment; dangers of psychic practices; astral intoxication; hypnotism;
true nature of spiritualism; cycles; Teachers true and false; the Path which
leads to self-realization. He shows that there is a scientific basis for ethics
-something to be understood, mastered and lived. He shares with the student
what he has himself experienced as highest in his own search along the winding
old Path. Included are all of Mr. Judge's "Occult Tales."
The Introductory Section presents a succinct outline of Mr. Judge's life and
work, accurately based on available documentation.
650 pages; illustrated; fully indexed; case bound.
PRICE: $7.00.
Order direct from: Point Loma Publications, Inc. P.O. Box 9966, San Diego,
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